Search the letters

The Vaughan Williams Foundation has made over 5000 items freely available: chiefly letters from Ralph Vaughan Williams, but including some responses which shed light on the subject matter, and also a number of letters from Adeline and Ursula Vaughan Williams. These provide further information and often include messages or observations from Ralph, and there are also letters from Adeline and Ursula written on behalf of the couple. The text of letters written by RVW and UVW remain the copyright of the Foundation.

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The letters are in tabular form and can be sorted by column, or filtered by any keyword including name, musical title, year or subject (singly or in combination). Partial matches will also be found, e.g. searching “sky” will also find “Stravinsky”. To search for a phrase use inverted commas, e.g. “New York”.

To search by letter number, include the prefix VWL, e.g. VWL123.

Filter letters

Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL2178 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510124 24th January, 1951.
VWL2175 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510122 Jan 22 [1951]
VWL3971 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peggy Glanville-Hicks 19510119 Jan 19 [1951]
VWL5209 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to E. Barry Green 19510110 10th January, 1951.
VWL2119 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19501112 Nov 12 [1950]
VWL2061 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 195011-- [November 1950]
VWL2115 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501030 Oct. 30 [1950]
VWL2111 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501018 18th October, 1950.
VWL2107 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501014 Oct. 14 [1950]
VWL2081 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500901 1st. September, 1950.
VWL2077 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19500820 Aug 20th 1950
VWL2075 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19500814 August 14 [1950]
VWL2068 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19500719 19th July 1950.
VWL2059 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote 195007-- [About July 1950]
VWL2005 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500622 22nd. June, 1950.
VWL2002 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19500614 14th June, 1950
VWL1969 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500125 Jan 25.[1950]
VWL1971 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500108 January 8 [1950]
VWL1968 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500104 4th January, 1950.
VWL4452 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19491026 26th October, 1949.
VWL3180 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19490608 8th June, 1949.
VWL5256 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Abraham 19490324 24th March, 1949.
VWL2940 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19490106 January 6 [1949]
VWL3618 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edmund Rubbra 19481216 16th December 1948
VWL2934 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Irving 19481216 16th December, 1948
VWL2776 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19480715 15th July, 1948
VWL2571 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19480225 Feb 25th [1948]
VWL1766 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 1948---- [?1948]
VWL2311 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult (BBC) 19470730 30th July, 1947.
VWL4958 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William McKie 19470706 July 6 [1947]

You have never lost your invention but it has not developed enough.  Your best – your most original and beautiful style or ‘atmosphere’ is an indescribable sort of feeling as if one was listening to very lovely lyrical poetry.

GUSTAV HOLST letter to RVW 1903

He was one of the most 'complete' men I have ever known. He loved life, he loved work and his interest in all music was unquenchable and insatiable.

SIR JOHN BARBIROLLI, conductor

I was thunderstruck by the symphony last night - and hadn't expected to be. Jagged, pulsating and angry, from that very first clanging dissonance - how can it have come from the same source as the Tallis Fantasia?

AUDIENCE MEMBER, Newbury Festival